The Princess Who Had No Name

Fall, 2013

When a girl wakes up alone in a tower in the forest, she has no memory of her past. She can’t remember where she’s from or how she got there. She can’t even remember her own name! All alone, she embarks on a journey to recall her past. Along the way, she meets several fairy-tale characters — Hansel and Gretel, Rumpelstiltskin, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella and Rapunzel to name a few. Some are helpful and some dangerous, yet all have information that intertwines and helps our fair maiden recall her own story, eventually revealing her true identity as a princess. Of course, her prince is desperately looking for her, but he seems to always be one step behind and inadvertently rescuing and winning the hearts of the wrong princesses! With fun new takes on the stories everyone loves, the Princess’s quest to remember her true identity keeps everyone guessing to the happily ever after ending!

Tiffany Prechel

Production Preparation Crew`

Natalie Benson

Good Fairy 1 and Forest animal

Sami Froemke

Production Preparation Crew

Claire Simmons

Good Fairy 2 and Forest Animal

Rebecca Negrete-Ramos

Rapunzel's Forest Witch and Forest Animal

Marcella Godina

Fairy Godmother

Sophia Bos

Snow White

Sarah Dunn

Bear (middle) and Southern Courtier

Iszondrea Robbins

Giddy the Dwarf/Southern Courtier

Lindsey Rightmire

Good Fairy 3 and Forest Animal

Meagan Andersen

Goldilocks/Southern Courtier

Kasie Thompson

Cinderella

Zoie Smith

Flighty the dwarf

Nicole Barajas

Queen of the West and Queen of the South

Stormy Slack

Production Preparation Crew

Alice Hiemstra

The Princess

Esmeralda Barocio Gonzalez

Evil Fairy, Forest Animal

Sabrina Allen

Guilty the Dwarf/Southern Courtier

Rosie Green

Rapunzel

Kristen Yanez

The Steward/Forest Creature

Amanda Gregory

Hansel/Gretel Forest Witch/ Southern Courtier

Megan Sifuentes

Gretel (later Whiny the Dwarf)

Rayanna Kuhnhenn

Queen of the North/forest animal

Michael Cozzens

Little Bear/Southern Courtier (later Prince Adonis)

Terrence Kayutak

Hippie the Dwarf/Southern Courtier

Levi Nelson

Whiny the Dwarf/Southern Courtier (later, Prince Reveille)

Nathan Rodriguez

The Herald and Prince Swavay

Sterling Smith

Rumplestiltskin (also later, Papa Bear)

Ian Ritchie

Nosy the Dwarf/Southern Courtier

Isaac Alexander

Rowdy the Dwarf; King of the South

Sara VanCorbach

The Nurse/Forest Animal

Ethan Fischer

Big Bear and Prince Adonis (original)

Trint Schenk

Prince Reveille (original)

Cole VanderMeulen

Hansel/Prince Hercules

Samantha Pietscher

Production Preparation Crew

Rebecca Mann

Production Preparation Crew

Rachel Fender

Production Preparation Crew

Reigna Bower

Production Preparation Crew

Elizabeth Aguiar

Production preparation crew

Gabbee Pistoresi

Production Preparation crew

Karina Lunning

Production Preparation Crew

Jenna Bower

Production Preparation Crew

Hayley Anthony

Production Preparation Crew

Kenia Rangel

Production Preparation Crew

Alejandra Carranza

Production Preparation Crew

Naomi Campbell

Production Preparation Crew

Ryan Grenz

Production Preparation Crew

Reon Whittum

Production Preparation Crew

Cody Juan

Production Preparation Crew

Josh Fender

Production Preparation Crew

Austin Wingardner

Production Preparation Crew

Jazmin Carranza

Production Preparation Crew

Sarah Soto

Production Preparation Crew

Caitlyn Wertenberger

Production Preparation Crew

Cody Kallenberger

Production Preparation Crew

Sophie Allen

Production Preparation Crew

Willy Wonka

Spring 2014

The novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was written in 1964 by British author Roald Dahl, a British novelist, short story writer, poet, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales toNorwegian parents, Dahl served in the Royal Air Force during World War II, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence officer, rising to the rank of Acting wing commander. He rose to prominence in the 1940s with works for both children and adults and became one of the world's best-selling authors. He has been referred to as "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century." In 2008, The London Times placed Dahl 16th on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945". His short stories are known for their unexpected endings and his children's books for their unsentimental, often very dark humor.Dahl's works include James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The Witches, Fantastic Mr Fox, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, The Twits, George's Marvellous Medicine and The BFG. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was written in 1964. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. The book's sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, was written by Roald Dahl in 1972. Dahl had also planned to write a third book in the series but never finished it.The story was originally inspired by Roald Dahl's experience of chocolate companies during his schooldays. Cadbury would often send test packages to the schoolchildren in exchange for their opinions on the new products. At that time (around the 1920s), Cadbury and Rowntree's were England's two largest chocolate makers and they each often tried to steal trade secrets by sending spies, posing as employees, into the other's factory. Because of this, both companies became highly protective of their chocolate-making processes. It was a combination of this secrecy and the elaborate, often gigantic, machines in the factory that inspired Dahl to write the story.

It was later adapted into two major movies: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory in 1971 (which was actually despised by Roald Dahl himself), starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, character actor Jack Albertson as Grandpa Joe, and Peter Ostrum as Charlie Bucket. It did alright at the box office, but subsequent sales on DVD have made it a cult classic since. Concurrently with the 1971 film, a line of candies was introduced by the Quaker Oats Company that uses the book's characters and imagery for its marketing.

Another film version, titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and directed by Tim Burton, was released in 2005. It starred Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, Freddie Highmore as Charlie Bucket, Deep Roy as the Oompa-Loompas, and Geoffrey Holder as the Narrator. The film was a hit. The 1971 and 2005 films are consistent with the written work to varying degrees. The Burton film greatly expanded Willy Wonka's personal back-story borrowing many themes and elements from the sequel. Both films heavily expanded the personalities of the four bad children and their parents from the limited descriptions in the book.

Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka, the musical written by Tim McDonald and Leslie Bricusse, made its stage premiere in 2004 at the Kennedy Center. It premiered with a cast of only seven, with many of the characters, such as the grandparents and thechildrens’ parents, being played by nearly life-size puppets. It was given mixed reviews at the time, but has grown to be loved by most who watch it. Since then, it has been performed all over, from tiny high schools like ours, to huge Las Vegas productions. A new version is currently on the London stage.

Staging this classic fantasy story was a huge challenge for ZCSTC—and students and directors alike have been working for months to design and build the many, many parts of the factory where candy dreams come true. It was a first show the used rear stage projections as part of the set, and the second act, comprised of the factory scenes, pretty much filled up our tiny backstage with not only elaborate set pieces but also a large crew of techies to move it all fast enough! It was a fun experience and a challenge at the same time.